The Melody Lingers On

In church on Sunday, one of the songs was "The Heart of Worship"  The melody took me back to a small church in Marganets, Ukraine, where I attempted to sing the song in Russian, It was such a blessing to sing in their own language.  To sing the words "I bring you more than a song...I'm looking into your heart," really touched me as I felt like I wanted to touch lives over there on that mission trip.

The next year I sang "How Great is our God" in Hungarian as we ministered to the gypsy families in Munkacs, Ukraine. Music carries such a powerful message, and I started thinking about other songs that take me to a different place.

One of my most vivid images has to be "Amazing Grace"-- my Grandad Frazier's song. I can still hear him belting out that song at the old Red House Church when we were kids. He often made  it into a medley with "I'm gonna trust in the Lord" And sometimes "The Old Time Religion!'  So when I hear that powerful song, it always takes me back to Red House church -- the old church is about to fall over now, but the melody lingers on.

Another song that takes me back is  "Shall We Gather at the River" -- as I sing that, I go back to the creek where I was baptized as a little girl.  Out church always sang that at a baptismal service.  Ours were always outside -- I was not a Baptist in those days, so there was no indoor facility.

I went off to college in the late 60's -- it was during the Viet Nam war and there was lots of interest in merging my beloved EUB church with the Methodist church.  It was hard to lose our small denomination's identity and the thought of getting lost in the larger body was difficult for some of us We sang "Pass it on"  and "WE ARE ONE IN THE SPIRIT" as we thought about reaching out to others who were different from us. In college I remember singing  songs every Sunday night at the small church in Morgantown. We sang. "Where Have all the Flowers Gone?" and other folk songs together with the guitars strumming.

'When I married my soldier,  we went to Chapel at Fort Bragg, and they always opened the service with the fourth verse of "My Country Tis of Thee " and some sharp looking soldiers carried the flags in -- "Our fathers' God, to Thee, Author of Liberty, To Thee We Sing..." that one always gives me a bit of a patriotic chill when I hear it even now. Another one that our organist plays occasionally is the Navy Hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save"  But the lyrics of one verse always grip me and remind me of the danger faced by the Army pilots. This was often played at a memorial service and the tune makes me a little sad.

Eternal Father, lend Thy grace To
those with wings who fly thro' space,
Thro wind and storm, thro' sun and rain,
Oh bring them safely home again.

Oh Father, hear an humble prayer,
For those in peril in the air!

  OK, this project is taking way too long for one post, and I still have many songs and memories to add -- another time. I don't even know if it is of interest to anyone else, but I have so enjoyed reliving the moments!